Medina – Harold "Tina" Brooks

This medium-up swinger has a catchy one-measure pickup followed by a whole note that's filled in with a stop-time figure. The A section begins in B♭ minor and ends in B♭ major. The bridge is 16 measures long creating a 40-measure AABC form. This song is closely related to Tina's earlier composition, Minor Move, with many important differences. It's a bit faster, and swings throughout. The melody is more obviously minor at the very beginning, with the second note G♭ instead of G♮ creating a harmonic minor tonality. In the sixth measure, F♮ instead of G♭/F♯ brings the melody closer to the B♭ key center rather than B, though the chord here is still Cm7(♭5). Stop-time hits are added in the first and third measures, with breaks for the melody in the second and fourth; the bass does not walk for the rest of the A section, but plays hits with the melody while the drums play time. The II-V7s to D major and C major in the bridge, as well as the last II-V7 going back to B♭ for the C section, are minor II-V7s (for example Em7♭5-A7♭9). The melody phrases in the 9th, 11th, and 13th measures of the bridge (the Moon Over Miami section) are cut short on the offbeats where in Minor Move they are tied over to the next beat. The solo changes are almost the same as Minor Move, but with each A and C section ending in minor. There is no coda; the last chord of the head is held out.

About the arrangement: As shown on our lead sheets, which are also the first parts, the melody should be played an octave higher than Minor Move. The second and third parts in this three-horn arrangement hit with the rhythm section throughout the A and C sections; melody cues for the break measures are included in our second and third parts. These parts are harmonized mostly in thirds, with often a wider interval between the melody and the second part, such as the F♯ first-inversion triad over the Bmaj7 on the fifth measure. The descending countermelody of Minor Move is adapted in the second part to fit the stop-time hits; it starts from the major seventh in the first measure, but in the third it starts on B♮, the minor 7th of C♯. The second and third parts have a unison stepwise half-note countermelody on the third, fourth, seventh, and eighth measures of the bridge. The 13th through 15th measures of the bridge have open-position voicings where the third part crosses over the second part.